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 Editorials | Opinions | May 2007 
Mexico's Gun Laws are as Draconian as they are Ineffective
 Bart Skelton - gunsandammomag.com
"The inhabitants of the United...States are entitled to have arms of any kind in their possession for their protection and legitimate defense, except such as are expressly forbidden by law, or which the nation may reserve for the exclusive use of the army, navy or national guard; but they may not carry arms within inhabited places without complying with police regulations."
Does that proclamation sound plausible? "Exclusive use of the army" and "complying with police regulations" are ambiguous statements, but "entitled to have arms of any kind in their possession for their protection and legitimate defense" rings clear. Most people would take that to mean that they could legally own a gun, particularly for self-defense purposes. But they'd be wrong. Completed, the first line of the aforementioned clause actually reads "The inhabitants of the United Mexican States..." The statement is Article 10 of the Mexican Constitution.
Officials in Mexico have twisted the meaning of their constitution to fit their needs, and the situation serves as an example to the few remaining countries in the world where gun ownership is viable. While the Mexican government claims that gun ownership is legal and that .22-caliber up to .380-caliber handguns may be personally owned, the majority of the country's law-abiding citizens are defenseless. Ownership of any caliber that is used by the military is forbidden. Any centerfire caliber designed for automatic rifles is off limits.
Gun ownership in Mexico is an exclusive club. You must be either wealthy or a criminal, or both. Permits for firearms can be obtained, however, after much bureaucratic nonsense that can only be avoided by those with connections or a monetary favor, a.k.a., mordida.
The other club members, mostly drug traffickers, don't bother with the paperwork. These thugs control virtually every aspect of life in Mexico. The AK-47, or cuerno de chivo, is the preferred long arm of the trafficker, along with an escuadra, an automatic pistol, generally either a 1911-style .45 auto or .38 Super. Checking any newspaper from virtually any town in Mexico will enlighten the reader to the commonplace violence, all generated by armed drug traffickers. It's a dire situation for law-abiding folks down there who have to fight to own a .22-caliber firearm with which to defend themselves and their families.
It wasn't that long ago that Americans were going to Mexico on gun-buying expeditions, and doing it legally. My dad was one of them. He and various pals frequented the state of Sonora in search of old Colts and Winchesters, and they found plenty of them. It was legal to buy these guns and bring them back to the U.S. as American goods returned. More often than not, they would first contact the local police and advise them they were after old guns and would even receive leads on who might have one for sale.
Unfortunately, those days are gone. There is no question that a few good old guns are still hiding out in Mexico, but finding them and getting them back would be more risky than smuggling dope.
Penalties for possession of even one round of ammunition without a permit, particularly for American citizens, are harsh and involve lengthy jail sentences. Americans are currently serving sentences in Mexican bordertown jails for petty ammunition violations, usually entirely accidental, side by side with murderers and thieves.
We can only hope that gun owners in the United States don't permit the same fate. Gun banning in Mexico began by manipulating the interpretation of the constitution. Gun grabbers in the U.S. have long practiced the same trick, and fortunately we've been able to hold them off. Considering that our current political climate is shaky, we gun owners must be wary that the Second Amendment can be (and is) construed in many ways, just like Mexico's Article 10. Remember the line "entitled to have arms of any kind in their possession for their protection and legitimate defense," then take a look at the hapless, unarmed citizens of our southern neighbor.
Even if it is possible to have a .22-caliber firearm down there, I'm not sure I'd count on it in an adversarial situation against a cuerno de chivo. |
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